Germany Books

... but also very entertaining and terrifying at the same time. While I agree with almost all what the previous three raters wrote, I want to stress that the entertainment value of this well written biography cannot be overstated. If you want to know how papers were retrieved at the Buero Ribbentrop, the parallel foreign ministry (by emptying a renaissance chest in which everything was thrown into), or how the usually obedient Ribbentrop once enraged the Fuehrer to the point of giving him a nervous breakdown, or how Ribbentrop embarassed himself and the Royal family while he was ambassador in London, look no further, Bloch describes it all, with dry humour, mild pity and all references. And if you ever doubted what a professional diplomatic corps is good for, read this book.

This is an excellent biography of one of WWII's most influential, but overlooked personalities. Bloch does a thorough job of outlining the life of Hitler's foreign minister, from his early days as ambassador to Berlin to his ultimate caputure by the Allies. A good read.

Bloch's "Ribbentrop" is an excellent work on a figure who is often only mentioned as a supernumerary in histories of the Second World War and the Third Reich. From Ribbentrop's early years, to his pre-Nazi days, to his rather baffling rise to power, to his last days as a defendant (then convict) at Nuremberg, Bloch's book illuminates the reader as to this important but often overlooked individual. Divided into well-ordered chapters, filled with many fascinating footnotes, and drawing from diplomatic archives, interview records, and memoirs, "Ribbentrop" provides a deeply interesting look at the state of the German diplomatic machine in the 1930's and 1940's and sheds light on the Reichsaussenminister who despite his participation in terrible crimes was, as written by Philip Ziegler in his review, "never quite a monster".

For enthusiasts of diplomatic history Michael Bloch produces a masterpiece that lets us see inside the Nazi regime and their struggle to deceive the world. Ribbentrop was a cowardly and self centered bureaucrat who helped justify some of the worst atrocities that were ever seen. The book is well written and is good for a beginner on an expert. It is an essential addition to any library about Nazi Germany. Bloch's contempt for Ribbentrop is apparent and you find yourself wondering how Ribbentrop ever achieved power. His ineptitude is stunning but through this look we get a look at one of the more interesting Nazi's after Hitler and Goebbels.

I have read a lot on WW2 history and found this study very good. I certainly learnt much from it.

A man promoted well over his ability and experience into a position of foreign minister. Yet in the scheme of things he was a fairly minor character.

Yet it surprizing how much influence that he did play in the conflict. I found the questions raised by the writer in relation to Rippontrop causing Hitler to misjudge Britain response to the invasion of Poland fasinating.

This is one of the best Osprey Publishing titles I have ever read! Greg VanWyngarden has put together an excellent and valuable resource book. I am acquainted with the author and know that he is a dedicated World War One Aero historian. He has meticulously assembled in these pages what the old Harleyford books did for their era. Within the scope and limitations of the Osprey series, he has presented the principal pilots, events, and aircraft of the Richthofen Circus. R.A. Forczyk's review is, as usual, very thorough. He points out very well the pros and cons of the book. I think the book deserves the highest rating for the excellent archival photos employed, the first hand accounts (the pilot's own words) and of course the color aircraft profiles are fantastic. They are beautifully executed. The Circus had the most colorful planes of the war. Greg VanWyngarden has very well synchronized the text / story and photos. Once you start reading this book you won't be able to put it down and you won't be able to resist peeking at the profiles either! I have reviewed other Osprey aviation titles. You can check out my other reviews if you wish. I would also recommend these titles by Greg VanWyngarden. You can click on their links! Pfalz Scout Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces) Early German Aces of World War I (Aircraft of the Aces) and Albatros Aces of World War 1 Part 2 (Aircraft of the Aces) Part 1 is by Norman Franks, another distinguished aero historian! Albatros Aces of World War I (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 32) If you want more details on Richthofen, "The Red Baron" another interesting book is IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RED BARON (Battleground Europe). There is also available Richthofen's own book! The Red Fighter Pilot: The Autobiography of the Red Baron

A fantastic publication. Far more accurate than other books on the same subject. The information about the unit is very informative and the color plates are wonderful.

Vanwyngarden's 'Richtofen's Circus': Jagdeschwader Nr.1 (of the Aviation Elite Unit series) is a valuable little resource for those interested in WW1 aviation, providing a clear basic knowledge of the pilots and operations of the various Jastas which made up this legendary unit. Good photographs, interesting text, well worth the purchase.

The famous Flying Circus has achieved mythical status -- read this excellent book to get the true story! The author tells an exceptional story via words, photos, and color profiles of this legendary fighter group. Not only are significant historical details given, some of the most notable pilots are covered in their own sidebars. If the book did not have to fit in Osprey's format, perhaps the author would have had space to provide his opinions of the group's overall significance to the air war, as mentioned by another reviewer. However, given the space available, the author focused on the information most important to a general audience. Can we hope for a much larger future volume? Jagdgeschwader Nr II Geschwader 'Berthold' (Aviation Elite Units) Albatros Aces of World War 1 Part 2 (Aircraft of the Aces)Pfalz Scout Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces)Early German Aces of World War I (Aircraft of the Aces)Jagdstaffel 2 Boelcke: Richhtofens Mentor (Aviation Elite Units)

Eighty-nine years ago today, Manfred von Richthofen's (the "Red Baron") German army flight group was dismantled with its loss in World War 1. Greg Van Wyngarden's "Richthofen's Circus" (2004, 128-page paperback) is a fascinating read about those pilots and planes.

Presenting a day-to-day account the author offers an intimate look into the lives of JG 1's pilots, victories at war, air war strategies, and the various "areoplanes" flown from June 24th, 1917 to November 19, 1918. Wyngarden uses airmen diaries, German ace interviews, flyers' family anecdotes, and official German army materials to document this interesting story.

The Red Baron (he was the leading German flying ace with 80 kills), his command, his planes, and his battle strategies are thoroughly reviewed. Many German flyers' careers, including Hermann Goring's, are presented (Obr. Lt. Goring briefly led the flight group after Richthofen's death). Each plane (Albatros, Pfalz, and Fokker) used by the Richthofen group is analyzed. Engine power, flight maneuverability, exterior color schemes, and pilot symbolage are presented. In the end, the Allies simply had better machinery and larger numbers (reducing the Red Baron's flight group to difficult fighting levels) for winning WW1.

Perhaps the best portions of this informative book are the many black and white period photos (over 125 total!) and the 46 colored airplane drawings. Also, the researcher will find helpful the various appendix lists.

This book is recommended to all World War 1 students, biplane and triplane aficionados, and Red Baron enthusiasts.

I have found that Melinda Copper's approach of using animals in the illustration actually makes the original "unexpurgated" Snow White tale that much more accessible. The illustrations - the clothes, the settings - help put the story in its original context and in the ways of the past. The animals make it fascinating to look at but less frightening than an illustration or photograph of an actual child.

I have enjoyed this tremendously as has my niece.

well,um,i'de have to say this book is pretty well done,especially by that...umm...melinda copper,oh yes,she's the best artist i would have to say,well anyways,i own 20 copies of the book and i read it every night because those bunnies are just so darn cute
buy it or forever be unknowledgable(or be bunny cute free)

I have four grandchildren ages, 2, 3, 4 and six. They (and their parents) all enjoyed the book, especially the illustrations. It was wonderful to revisit the Brothers Grimm version of the story as well as to experience the beautiful full page illustrations. This will be a book that will stay in the family for generations. Melinda Copper is to be congratulated on a wonderful book!

I read this book to the K-1 and 4-5th graders at my daughters school. The children were so captivated by the beautiful illustrations that I had to promise to leave the book in the classroom for the day so they could look more closely at it. Once the children got used to the idea that there is more than one version of this classic, they were excited by the antics of the evil step mother cat! The older children loved the detail of the illustrations and the fact that they could see the texture of the canvas in the pictures. The younger ones were delighted by the hamsters and mice. This book raises the standard of children's book illustrations. It will make a wonderful gift for a child of any age!

Artist Melinda Copper has a unique gift - drawing upon the works of master artists she creates paintings in their style but with her own imprimatur - animals. Her paintings of cats, dogs, rabbits are treasures in themselves, sought after by collectors and art aficionados. Thus, her "Snow White" is a marvel for us to cherish.

Words cannot possibly do justice to the beauty of Copper's paintings - precious, irresistible, heart warming come to mind but they aren't enough to describe the attention to detail and luminosity found in Copper's work.

Of course, the story of Snow White is known to all, but it becomes new again with these meticulously drawn images and glorious full page illustrations.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

Absolutely beautiful illustrations. Incorporation of artwork and text is especially appealing. The size of the book is a great plus for sofa reading time with young chilren. This book is a timeless edition and definitely one to add to your reading library. The little cherubs at my house love it!

This book has marvelous illustrations of the fairy tale story as originally told by the Grimm brothers. This book can be great for young children as the pictures are so vivid and life-like, especially of Snow White who is portrayed as a child rather than a teenager. Each picture is a springboard for conversation with little ones. I will be looking for all of Charles Santore's books after seeing this one.

Beautifully rendered drawings adorn the pages of this favorite classic. Santore's paintings always delight. If you love your children's books to include gorgeous illustrations, then look no further: this is a winner in that department.

A marvelous telling, with beautiful illustrations, of the classic Grimm fairy tale. Highly recommended for anyone interested in sharing the tradition of fairy tales with children, or re-reading the stories to themselves to rekindle the fires of imagination, fantasy, and good and evil. Bess Kuzma

A great picture book and wonderful addition to my collection of beautifully illustrated fairy tales to share with my children....

I enjoyed this book very much. It takes you though Sol's journey from being a regular teenager to living in the Warsaw Ghetto to living in concentration camps. I enjoyed learning about what it was like for people living in the Ghetto. It's amazing that Sol survived considering how many times his life was in imminent danger, but he survived on his wits and his luck. Highly recommended.

This has got to be one of the best book's I have ever read. It explaines so much about why he is the loving caring man that he is and why so many people care about him. I couldn't put it down!

To be completely honest, I haven't read the book. But I live in Monroe and I've heard Sol speak out before and that was incredibly moving. I'm waiting to get my copy.

I was in the eighth grade at my junior high (I'm a senior in high school now) when he visited and spoke about his experiences. He really is inspiring. I drive past his piping store nearly every day...

And amazing man and I'm certain that the book is amazing as well.

There are few and diminishing number of holocaust survivors who can offer first hand accounts on this horrific period in history. Sol's story covers a six year period that includes surviving the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Treblinka, Majdenik, Buchenwald and Dachau.

Sol Survived from physical strength and stamina (at 77 today he is still in remarkable health), personal pride in being a Jew, incredible resourcefullness, and an indellible will to live. He just refused to die.

This story will appeal to any student of Jewish or Holocaust studies, but it holds real value for anyone who wants to understand the strength of faith and spirit, regardless of religious background.

This book is a relatively short book and easy to read in terms of the prose. It is very difficult to read in terms of trying to comprehend the cruelty and misery of that place and time. The author, Richard Chardkoff, is a history professor at the university in Louisiana where the subject, Sol Rosenberg, now lives with his children and grandchildren. Dr. Chardkoff was funded with a grant to travel to Poland and Germany to document the events and Sol's movements during this time.
Salik Rosenberg was born a Jew in Germany in the late 1920's and moved with his family to Poland before the Nazi invasion. The story evolves around Sol's life during the rise of the Nazi's through to his rescue by the American troops at Dachau. What you see in this horrific odyssey are the captors and guards who embody the worst evils of humans, contrasted with a person like Sol, who seldom questioned his ability to go on and had just an incredible will for survival. Dr. Chardkoff adeptly adds historical facts surrounding the locations and timeframes of Sol's journey.
This book can be read by anyone easily and is definitely recommended for students of the holocaust. Due to the graphic nature of the conditions of the prisoners, I would not recommend this book to children. I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks they had a difficult childhood.

Stella is my kind of history. First person who was there, through their own eyes. When I majored in American History I wondered what happened to the Jews who were my age during the war. Thinking that I would not have fallen in the Nazi traps which led to the camps. This book helps explain where the 20 year olds went during the war. The author was in Berlin before the war with many school friends and neighbors. The follow-up with his friends and the stories of their lives during and after the war is amazing. Riveting. I couldn't put it down and would recomment this book to anyone interested in Berlin history during the war.

I do not wish to hurt anyone who has suffered from the holocaust by writing this review, nor do I want dishonor anyone who was destroyed by it. I am only making an observation about what happened to this woman named Stella. Stella was a beautiful blonde girl who reached early maturity during WWII in Berlin. She was Jewish, but with her blue eyes she could easily pass for a gentile. When Hitler started his personal war against Jews, he initiated the most horrible and beastly experience that could happen to human beings. With his henchmen, and their vicious attacks on Jews and other peoples, he pushed people into emotional dungeons, and it is at these dark, these lowest levels, that we discover what we are really capable of doing. In his painful memoir of his experiences of the holocaust, Elie Weisel, shows us in Night, that when the Nazis tossed tiny bits of bread to starving Jews, many of them killed for that one morsel of food, sometimes ending the lives of their loved ones for a chance to put something in their mouths. For me, this book was about survival. No one knows what they are capable of unless they are taken to that horrifying nightmare place of doom, and unless one has been there, there is absolutely no way of knowing what our choices would be. Many would argue that Stella did not get to the extremes that occurred in the death camps. But we do know that she was beaten over and over and over again. And then she was offered a chance to have it all end by being a "catcher" for the Nazis. We know that other Jews committed suicide to avoid the beatings and the offer of becoming a catcher to stay alive. I can only thank God that I have never had to be in such a situation, because I don't know what I would do. How could I know? I do know that I have a very strong instinct to live, and I think that may have been why Stella took the path that she did. I believe, that in making that choice, she did lose her "soul." I think that is the only way that a human being could do what she did. For Stella did not only "catch" Jews for the Nazis, many eyewitnesses said she seemed to enjoy it. I think for anyone to make that "choice" you would have to put your entire being into it in order to perform those horrible crimes. In the end, I think Stella suffered far more than if she had allowed herself to die at the hands of the Nazis. At the age of about 21, she began the life of a person who is hated by virtually everyone she had ever known and anyone she would ever meet. She lives her life constantly attempting to convince herself that she didn't do anything wrong. She lives in total seclusion, with the lights always dim, year after year with no one to love her, no one to hold her, no one to console her. And still she survived into old age. Survival was Stella's strongest urge. It kept her alive to live a lifelong death, the death of her humanity, with the destruction of hundreds, perhaps thousands on her hands. Would I choose survival? In retrospect, had I been a "Stella," I can only pray that I would have had the ability to accept my death at the hands of the Nazis.

Wyden mixes personal reminiscences about his youthful schoolboy infatuation with schoolmate Stella with a history of the persecution of Jews in Berlin and Stella's ever duplicitous role in it. Ultimately, he portrays a pathetic, lonely and isolated woman who refuses to acknowledge any guilt, real or alledged, or personal responsibility in betraying Jews to the Gestapo.

This book is history and personal anecdote while concurrently begging thought provoking questions about guilt and capitulation. One could easily conclude that had Stella been born in a different place at a different time she would have been a totally ordinary person living out an uneventful life. Sometimes it almost seems that Wyden wants to believe this too. For her part, she claims that even had there been any cooperation with the Gestapo it was to spare the lives of her parents. Is she guilty out of concern for her parents (they ultimately perished) and therefore somewhat forgiven by the "I was just obeying orders" defense so frequently echoed throughout World War II and VietNam; or is she guilty because an ordinary person was born into and negatively impacted by the truly bizarre and cruel world of 1940s Berlin?

Stella is ultimately a disturbing portrait of a truly personal human tragedy; her own and those who suffered for it.

Few can match the infamous Blond Poison, Stella Goldschlag, who stalked the alleys of Berlin seeking former friends, School Classmates and neighbers as as well as total strangers not out of loneliness but in order to betray them and send them to the Gas Chambers to be murdered in her place during the Holocaust. She well deserves her reputation as a Judas to the Jews of Berlin, the men, women and children whom she betrayed by the score to preserve her own life.

This book is basicly her story. Written by a former classmate.

It details much of her early life to the best of the author's knowledge. It then goes on to describe her career as a Griefer, one of the scores of Jews who openly chose to assist the Gestapo finding the Jews in hiding so to deport them to the death camps in exchange for their own survival.

A career in which Stella Goldschlag was one of the Gestapo's best.

One could compare her to the infamous Blond Irma Grese (who is not mentioned in this book) but Wyden shows her life was a far cry from nightmare that of the infamous Blond Beast's. She was not mistreated. Her mother spoiled her. Her father hardly interfered. She certainly had contact with better men in the beginning. A far cry from the horrors of Irma Grese's nightmare life that ultimately exploded with deadly fury upon the inmates of Auschwitz with all the savagery of a mistreated dog.

When one looks at the infamous Blond Poison and her Domestic Partner Rolf Isaacson one finds no reason to sympathise with them at all. They did what they did as a matter of choice. Wyden even reports the infamous Blond Poison enjoyed her work.

This is the story of one woman's choice in Evil.

This book is well worth seeking out, even if it is out of print.

What makes it all the more fascinating is that the author grew up with the subject of the biography. The text seems meandering at first, but the interweaving of his story -- and that of Stella -- comes sharply into focus, as the writer shares his innermost thoughts.

Although he does not make Stella blameless, he does demonstrate empathy for her -- in the end, she lives but has lost her soul. She is an unforgetable character. Striking, too, are the many `supporting' characters Wyden introduces to us, brave and courageous Jews who survived in Berlin through much of the war and, in some cases, all of it. These individual stories are striking, heart-warming, sometimes funny, and always unforgetable. I found the book as engrossing as a fictional thriller, truly a `can't put down' item! Don't miss it!

Brilliant history of the game. I grab and read anything I can by Brian Glanville. Excellent.

well the book was the best and i love to play soccer when i want to. It's my to play.I want to go to collage soccer some were were they play really good and to be a good thing for me. well maybe i will be able to go and play with the big boys.

Glanville brings wit, humor and a critical eye to his history of the World Cup. More than simply a dry rehash of scores and stats, this book almost has a literary flavor, painting pungent, vivid and memorable portraits of the players and their times.

You get a feel for the drama, the excitement and the raw energy of the World Cup. For example, it is not simply stated that the Brazilians cultivated Mexican fans in 1970, but Glanville adds such memorable lines as "The Brazilians pursued a shrewd policy of 'beads for the natives..'.

Glanville's description of players, even obscure ones, shows dry wit, a keen eye and someone who has done his homework. Most writers would have dashed off a conventional 3-word blurb. Not Glanvile. For example, in describing sturdy Russian sweeper Chesternev(?) Glanville speaks of him "sweeping up diligently in his crouching bird-dog style.." Likewise another player is described not merely as a fast winger but " a strongly-built, moustached, and melancholy figure, with fabled control and finishing power."

And indeed, so he was. You get the sense that this is soccer as it should be played- with supreme confidence and absolute conviction. Despite the literary flavor, this book has meat, solid meat. Who wants a simple rehash of what went down? Glanville begins every chapter with a background to the Cup- the sometimes unsavoury politics and posturing, the jealousies, the disappointments of good players who didn't make the cut. Then he breaks down the detail of the contenders- their strengths and weaknesses. Like I said, this is meaty analysis, not another
rehash of stats we already know.

The viginettes and scenes are amazing, Puskas eating monkey nuts in Chile, grousing about Hungarian football, Pele's audacious attempt to beat Viktor from 50 yards out in 1970, the father of Spanish player DiStefano in 62 flying in with a mysterious "magic linament" to heal his son, the "spontaneous" 1970 Mexican crowd that conveniently and noisly gathered outside the English team's hotel, keeping the players awake all night, before the match with Brazil, the blazing speed and mesmerizing moves of the deformed winger- Garrincha of Brazil, the cheeky "street" caper of Maradona's infamous "Hand of G-d" goal, the brave comebacks of Germany in 1982 and 1986, the redemption of the scandal-smeared Paolo Rossi, and so on.. You almost get the sense of being there on the field.

Those expecting a cheerleading tome for soccer officialdom would do best to look for another book. Glanville is not afraid to expose the seedy side of the game, nor criticize the FIFA bureaucracy, hooligan fans, coaches and abominable refereeing where warranted, nor do the cynical players and tactics escape his censure.

There are some minor quibbles. In his 1966 edition, Glanville correctly describes Brazil's swift right winger Garrincha as a mulatto, but in the 1970 edition, he is transformed into a South American Indian. In fact, Garrincha was part black, and this is confirmed in Joseph Page's book "The Brazilians". Of course with Brazil, racial categories are fuzzy, but Glanville does correctly point out that the introduction of black players in that country transformed the game. Some might object to Glanville even mentioning race, but it is interesting nevertheless to see the width of the Black Disapora, and the increasing blend of cultures in sports, and how sports can, in its own limited way, bring people together. Thanks to Glanvile, these glimpses range from "the Black Diamond" Leonidas of Brazil back in 1938, to the swift black winger Andrade of Uruguay circa 1950, to Gatejens, scorer of the shocking goal that upset England in 1950 (yes, the segregated, Jim Crow US had "colored" players), to the pantherine Eusebio and silky smooth Coluna of Portugal in 1966, to the corruscating Teofilo Cubillas of Peru of 1970, to the powerfully built sweeper, Tresor, of France.

Glanville's book is also invaluable for its many pictures of past players, particularly the older editions. The newer editions chop out a lot of interesting detail- after all the book can only keep expanding as the years pass. But all in all, a must read for every true soccer fan. Something for everyone- the young fan looking for heroes and pictures, the educated dabbler, or the hard-core afficionado.

Objectivity is absent at times in this very thorough history. I generally find Paul Gardener, Keir Radnedge, & Terry Crouch to be more objective. He inflates the importance and success of British Footballers. But, since England has never won the European Cup and last won the World Cup in 1966 I guess few readers will find his bias surprising. However, he does have a computer chip Knowledge of the "World's Most Popular Sport." He gives the most detailed accounts of the World Cups of the 1930's and 50's that I have ever come across. In depth analysis , vivid portraits of great players and games are in abundance. From the offensive oriented decades of the 1930's-50's, the defensive mania of the 1960's to Holland's "Total Football" philosophy of the 1970's.

You will learn about the most classic matches. From the exciting first final in 1930 between Argentina & Uruguay, the first overtime final in 1934 between Italy & Czechoslavakia, the "battle of Berne" in 1954 between Hungary & Brazil, to the formers shocking loss to West Germany in the final.

Other more well known games from the incomparable Pele against France in the 1958 semi-final, the controversial England win against West Germany in the 1966 final, to the match of the century between Italy & West Germany in the 1970 semi-final, & lastly Italy's unexpected triumph in the 1982 finals where they started as a 25-1 shot to win. The true fan will feel like you have just been at the stadium having viewed a classic match.

Finally, a literary and creative man writing about soccer! Mr. Glanville's encyclopaedic knowledge of the game and his plethora of behind-the-scene anecdotes make this book deliciously enjoyable. Each World Cup is peppered with authentic style making the reader feel like he is smelling chalupas inside Azteca Stadium or bratwurst in Munich's Olympiastadion. The poetic narrative of legendary games such as 1970's Italy vs West Germany or 1982's West Germany vs France is almost Nobel Prize material.

However, his British twist is conspicuously ubiquitous in the form of inflating paragraphs about obscure Scottish and Welsh footballers that most international soccer hounds don't know or care about... or in lambasting on Maradona time and time again! Objectivity may not be his forte, but Glanville's epic writing of a World Cup history is second to none.

It's my first time to really get into the picture of the holocaust as almost living the story by reading it, The story is more then amazing and get the reader into the actual world as lived by the author at that time.
As much amazing the Nazie's viciousness you will be amazed by the young boy (the author) bravery against all chances.
More then getting an historical event as seen by a movie about the holocaust, ANY ONE WILL LEARN from that story about the life we are living and more ..

It has been a long time since I have read a book that had me so "hooked". It has all the elements of an engrossing story... and to boot, it's all true. What an inspiration, delivered in clear, concise writing. It's surprising that it has never been made into a movie. Very highly recommended for all ages. Thank you for sharing it all, Mr. Eisner.

The facts as they should be told as part of a beautiful love story. Eisner had a deep love of his people, his family, his Helina and most importantly of his life. This is a compelling story and a must read for anyone interested in the Holocaust.

This incredible piece of writing is a materpiece! I was engrossed in The Survivor from the first page and was deeply moved throughout. Jack Eisner's incredible true story of survival against all odds in the face of unimaginable human cruelty and brutality by the Nazis, should be compulsory reading for teenage secondary students!!

Hello there, I'm not a big reader, but when I found your book at the library, it was too good and for the first time, I read it twice! I don't know how anybody could have make it through these circumstances. I recommanded it to my sister and she read it also. I always recommand it to all the poeple I know. This person is extraordinary! I'm still looking for a place where I could buy it.

Joel Agee's Twelve Years: An American Boyhood in East Germany offers a hilarious and universal account of the passage from boyhood to manhood. Enjoying this book does not require an interest in its unique setting. Never mind that the entire work occurs between 1948 and 1960 in the Stalinist dictatorship of the German (un)Democratic Republic; or that the author's Jewish American mother is living with her children and second husband in the anti-fascist Soviet Satellite of the only recently vanquished Third Reich; or that the author's biological father is Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, James Agee; or that his stepfather is an East German writer whose socialist themes become less relevant the more the dictatorship he lives in takes hold. Joel Agee so powerfully conveys the challenging and exciting passage of a male from age eight to twenty, that distinctions of place, time, name, and circumstance meld into a broader truth.

By page thirteen, the book's ever more ironic and outrageously funny form takes shape -- the fibs to Mom, friendship mischief, the struggle to fit in with peer groups, and the stirrings of sexual awakening that should have long ago made this work a classic.

I too have been urged by friends to write a book about my youth. In 1981, at the age of 18, I decided to reunite with my father and immigrated from the USA to the DDR. I was later expelled in 1986 for political reasons and lived elsewhere in Europe until my return in 1991 following the Fall of The Berlin Wall. I remained there until April of 2000 at which time I returned to the USA.
This book brought back some memories despite the difference in time. (The Author went to the DDR in 1948 at the age of 8. I went to the DDR in 1981 at the age of 18) I had no idea that there had been any other Americans that shared an even remotely similar story and Joel Agee does a great job of telling his story with far more emotion and prose than I ever could.
The book is a wonderful insight into life in a country that no longer exists...from the view point of an American child/young adult. I especially recommend it to anyone who has grown-up or lived in a country where they felt they did not belong. In my opinion, Agee entered the DDR in its infancy and left just as its darkest period began. I entered The DDR at the height of the Reagan Era and witnessed its collapse from within. Two historic phases. I only wish that both of us could have witnessed more.

I read Joel Agee's book "Twelve Years. An American Boyhood in East Germany" in German and in English and tried very hard to get a used copy of his first american edition - without any success. Finally, he is back again with a new edition, and allthough my english is not as good as it should be, I just want to write down some words abaout this book. For me who always lived in Western Germany it is one of the most interesting books about the communist part of Germany, the GDR (in german it's DDR). It was not meant to be a political book, but it has become one anyhow. The reader is not only enabled to follow a very private story of growing up as a boy (including all the problems most man - since they have been boys - know and prefer not to talk about it), but to understand how culture and everyday life had been transformed by the communist ideology in a way that could be critizised only by children: some simply laughed about it and learned, that even only to laugh could have negative consequences. And getting some idea of how adults did discuss the political penetration of everyday life makes you feel glad to be grown up in a non communist state - but still you can understand that this adults they had their living like others had, and that they were fathers and mothers having everyday problems like others had. This book indeed touched and pleased me. It is a marvellous written autobiographical kind of literature. If you'll read it, it will take a part of your heart and your intellect to. You'll have to love it.

I'm delighted to see that Joel Agee's memoir is now available again, and I look forward, with pleasure, to re-reading it. In beautiful prose, Agee not only reveals the pains and pleasures of his growing up (it could be anywhere), but gives us a portrait, from an unusual angle, of life in the newly formed German Democratic Republic, i.e.,communist East Germany, during the period 1948-1960. The historian will find the book of particular interest, but so will anyone else who enjoys entering the unsual world of a sensitive young man with a terrific eye for detail, and who is frank about his inner life.

Agee returned to the U.S. just as the amazing 60s were about to roll their thunder, and I can't wait to read his follow-up memoir, his "American Manhood" in another world far removed from the East Berlin of his youth.

"Twelve Years: An American Boyhood in East Germany" is a fascinating memoir. Eight-year-old Joel Agee was brought by his mother and stepfather to the Soviet zone of Germany (what would become East Germany) in 1948 and lived there for the next 12 years. As Agee's stepfather, Bodo Uhse, was a prominent Communist, Agee had the best that East Germany could offer: a villa with servants, summers at the Baltic Sea, and numerous opportunities to recover from his dismal performance at school. Agee does provide an insight as to how the Communist intelligentsia in that country thought -- their explanations for the closed border, their view of the Stalinist (and Soviet-bloc) purges in the early 50s, and their conflicting views of Khruschev's revelations. This memoir is also a coming-of-age story, filled with teenage angst and sexual frustration. What distinguishes this from many other memoirs is that it is exceptionally well-written. Although Agee was never able to get his bearings in the East German school system (or was, as we would say today, a "slacker") his descriptions are almost poetic. Well worth reading.

This is a non fiction book by Joseph Roth whose other books are mainly fiction - he was a prized journalist and writes like the best of both worlds - this book is an extraordinary picture of a period of life which we don't know enough about - because WW II got in the way and rendered information about Jews and life in Germany and eastern Europe in the 20's and 30's sort of academic and moot - It is an important and compelling and sad book - sad because we readers know facts that the author doesn't - we know what happened and he doesn't know the future. It is a valuable book which I have recommended and given to many friends.

"The Wandering Jews" of the title are the displaced and unwanted Jews of Eastern Europe (from where Roth himself came before he made himself into one of Western Europe's foremost journalists and writers) before World War II. As Roth puts it, "Eastern Jews have no home anywhere, but their graves may be found in every cemetery." And as Roth foreshadowed (that line originally was published in 1925; this translation also includes the preface and an afterword to the later 1937 edition), the plight of the Eastern Jews only promised to become more dire. Indeed, one senses that Roth despaired that any strident alarm would be in vain. Thus, more than an alarm, THE WANDERING JEWS is a requiem. (And Roth went on to drink himself to death in 1939.)

In the first part of the book, Roth sets out to limn the character and essence of the Eastern Jew. I am willing to believe that he is thoroughly successful. (Example: "None of the many untrue and unjust accusations that are brought against Eastern Jews by the West are as untrue and unjust as the accusation that they are what the gutter press likes to call Bolshevik. Of all the world's poor, the poor Jew is surely the most conservative.")

In the second part of the book, Roth provides snapshots of five different aggregations of the Eastern Jews -- in the ghettoes of Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, in America (where there are "people who are more Jewish than the Jews, which is to say the Negroes"), and in Soviet Russia. As for the future of the Jews in Russia, Roth was somewhat optimistic in 1925, but by 1937 that optimism had been dispelled altogether. (Roth thus proved himself more cold-bloodedly realistic than many contemporary European liberals.)

Joseph Roth was a superb writer and a masterful polemicist. (I recently read a collection of H.L. Mencken's journalism, this particular one "A Religious Orgy in Tennessee", dealing with the Scopes Monkey Trial, and while there are obvious similarities between Roth and Mencken, who were contemporaries, Roth was by far the better and more cultured writer.) Here, the sardonic and sarcastic tone, albeit understandable, is at times wearing, but it is readily tolerated and forgiven by virtue of the sheer acuity of Roth's intellect and insights and by his compassion.

Roth is extremely prescient, not only about communism and Soviet Russia and about the Nazis and the Holocaust ("Centuries of civilization are no guarantee that a European people, by some ghastly curse of fate, will not revert to barbarism."), but also, startlingly so, about the Zionist/Palestinian dilemma. With regard to that last conundrum, I will let Roth, once again, speak for himself:

"Zionism and nationhood are by their nature Western European ideals * * *. Only in the East do people live who are unconcerned with their "nationality", in the Western European sense. They speak several languages, are themselves the product of several generations of mixed marriages, and fatherland for them is whichever country happens to conscript them. * * * Natiionality is a Western concept."

"The young halutzim [Zionist Jews who seek to establish a Jewish presence in Palestine] are brave farmers and workers, and they demonstrate the willingness of the Jew to work and till the fields and become sons of the soil, in spite of having spent hundreds of years among books. Unfortunately the halutzim are also oblighed to take up arms, to be soldiers, and to protect the land against the Arabs. Thus the European example has been carried into Palestine. * * * The Jew has a right to Palestine, not because he once came from there but because no other country will have him. The Arab's fear for his freedom is just as easy to understand as the Jew's genuine intention to play fair by his neighbor. And despite all that, the immigration of young Jews into Palestine increasingly suggests a kind of Jewish Crusade, because, unfortunately, they also shoot."

This is a remarkable and brilliant portrait of a marginal and now tragically vanished people by a remarkable and brilliant person.

Joseph Roth's "The Wandering Jews" is one of the best written and most important books about East European Jews ever published. At a time of growing anti-Semitism (the first edition was written in 1926 and an update was published in Paris in 1937) and an immigration crisis affecting Germany as countless refugees poured into Berlin from the East, Roth--himself a Jew from Galicia, the easternmost part of the former Austrian empire--creates a sympathetic yet clearsighted portrait of contemporary Jewish life. In the process he effectively responds to all the stereotypes and libels heaped on East European Jews. For the contemporary reader, however, what is most affecting about this portrait is Roth's ability to convey a panorama of Jewish life on the brink of destruction. Though no one (except maybe Hitler) could have predicted, even in 1937, the extent of the devastation that would be visited on European Jewry, Roth's writing in this book serves as an indelible and moving memorial to a civilization that would soon disappear forever. It must therefore count among the first books in what would now be called "Holocaust literature," and one of the most meaningful works of protest literature--protest against the stereotypes that reduced Jews to objects of scorn and contempt; protest against the violence that would ensue from these stereotypes--of all time. Michael Hofmann's understated and articulate translation of this poignant, heartbreaking little book is a tremendous service for English-language readers. It fills in a vital space in the emerging image of Joesph Roth, a writer finally receiving his due in the precincts of European modernism, and it should be read by everyone interested in good writing and the problems of 20th century history.

Again and again--with one neat phrase--Roth puts anxieties into words that it took others whole books to communicate, and then, only vaguely. Not even the magnificent Kafka comes close to a tidy phrase of self-condemnation such as this, referring to the deracinated Western Jew, with his "secret perversities, his cringing before the law, his well-bred hat held in his anxious hand". This statement took my breath away. So did many others in this short book throbbing with love, fear, and sadness. Roth was himself a Jew, one of the thousands who had served his "adopted 'country' " in the Great War (as so many other Jews did for so many other countries) only to have reality--eternal victimhood, eternal wandering--thrust him away, from Vienna, to Berlin, and then to Paris. Like so many educated Western Jews, he looked back to the shtetl with admiration for its nurturing of an authentic self (coupled with a faint relief at not having to live there). This tension--and its guilt-feelings--are so tidily explained in Roth, and his predictions made in the 1930's so chilling--that I jumped almost with relief on his touting the Soviet Union as a better place for Jews. Ah...but an afterward to the second edition contains Roth's warning that things in the USSR have changed, and perhaps his enthusiasm was misplaced...

Then, reader, I cried uncle. Joseph Roth was perfect. Anger and love mix with poetry and humility. He neither rolls in the mud of guilt, nor clutches an ideology through all contrary evidence. Instead, he sings Kaddish for a people gone, a people authentic and pure and of, as Kafka said, "the prayer shawl, now flying away from us..."

This book was a paen by a 'civilized (read westernized)' Jew on the cusp of WW2 and the holocaust. Roth travelled in most of post-WW1 Eastern Europe to learn the plight of his Jewish compatriots. In the original edition (written in 1926) he speaks of Eastern European Jews (mostly those of Galicia and the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires) being able to find freedom of conscience and a world without anti-semitism by moving to the West. Unfortunately, by the West he meant Germany.

In the epilogue of the 1937 edition (which he wrote from self-exile in Paris) he takes the "New Germany" to task for the treatment of the Jews. He make major points as to the failure of the League of Nations to protect the Versailles Treaty 'national minorities' and specifically the treatment of DPs (displaced persons, people literally without a country). He makes the point that animals are protected in most countries better than Jews and DPs.

He is prescient when he speaks of an 'impending disaster' and seems to presage 'donor burnout'. He tells how right after a calamity, everyone seems to want to pitch in, but after awhile, except for a few philantropists, everyone pretty much wants to go back to their own lives.
This book is among the strongest statements made prior to WW2 of the approaching calamity, not just for Jews but all of Europe.